From the light
by Opaul
Summary: The war is over but the world is a darker place. Ozai and Azula have fallen ,but plague is not an obsticle that can be remove by a mir show of force. And those who remain face a much dimmer future. She was a small candle in the shadow. Canon ships Rate T
1. Chapter 1

She turns her head and looks at me, curious and a fearless as a baby linxlion. Her golden eyes fixed on me in curiosity, long black bangs hang in her face. "What are you doing all the way down here," I mumble. She pounds her hands on the hard cobble stone floor. "Don, Don, Dum." I think she's too young to understand the question. Barely two. Both of us are on hands and knees underneath a table in the lounge. I was patrolling when I stumbled across her. "Music," she says smiling happily. Music.

I suppose a prison is an odd place to be growing up I think to myself staring at her pearly white baby grin. I never would have thought about it before. I would be lying if I said I didn't at least feel sorry for her now. "Come on," I say lifting her from under her arms, "let's take you back to your cell." She gently touches the tip of the spikes on my helmet with her finger giggling slightly as they spring back and forth.

My armor clinks and clings quietly as I walk along the hallway to her mother's cell. We pass in and out of the shadows in the poorly lit passage in silence; the girl just sucks her thumb like she's in trouble or something. I don't know why she would think so though. Seems too young know about dangers of consequences that come with breaking out of jail. Nor can I begin to image how she escaped the cell.

She pulls her thumb out of her mouth the second I turn the key in the door. "I believe this belongs to you," I tell the darkness with as much warmth as I can muster. I can hear the noise of a body sitting straight up in the darkness and hurrying, nearly tripping over her ragged skirts, to the light. The light pierces her extremely pale skin like knives; the dead usually have more color to them. Her long eyes squint from the brightness. Her hair hangs limply about her waist; she had bangs when she first came in. I've seen her mug shots, but now they've grown out and droop past her shoulders. I hand out the child to her, whom she takes quickly into her arms. Clinging the baby to her body. The child tries to hide herself amongst her mother's hair. "Thank you," she murmurs looking down at the ground. She steps back into the darkness; I close the heavy metal door and turn the key. Tis a shame, I believe, the imprisonment has broke her spirit. Once a stubborn and powerful figure, left hand to Princess Azula, now barely a humble heartbeat thudding in the shadows. Amazing how everything can change in an instance for a life. Once a sure to be future Firelady, now this. I can hear the faint sound of a lullaby being sung in the distance as I walk down the passage back to where I'm supposed to be patrolling. I feel goose bumps appear on my arm as I listen to song. The notes sharp and lingering. Like the melody sung for a ghost. And somewhere in my stomach something fills hollowed out... After all she is only a child.


	2. Avacodo

Life at the prison was better than this, after 3 months at sea I feel the life seeping out of me in small streams. I breathe deeply, sighing against the iron wall.

_We may have won the battle but we've lost the war._ I shift my head sideways. I can see Katara in the shadows, through the bars with her head on her arm, staring blankly ahead. My stomach tosses at the sight of her. I shift my head back to the iron wall in front of me. Pain ripples through my lower back. I slide back down to the floor.

The ship whole lurches violently to the left. I brace myself against the wall with my arm. I can feel the baby wake and begin to kick and move around. Its legs are painfully strong. Which I guess is a good thing it'll need the fight in it. A left foot strikes my rib cage, knocking the wind out of me in the process. Just what I need, more pain. I close my eyes and pray that soreness goes away.

The clatter of the flood tray noisily dropping to the floor makes me spring open my eyes. Avocado and rice again. I glance over at Katara; the guards have stopped feeding her for awhile now. The avocado is halved and squished and the rice is little more than the crusty leftovers scraped off the bottom of the pot. I groan internally sitting up. The food back at the prison was even better than this. Then scent of curry drifts down the hallway in a thick cloud. The richness of the smell made my stomach churn. I look across at Katara; her eyes have begun to glaze over. "Hear," I say tossing the avocado through the bars at her, "Eat it." She moves her dry cracked lips wordlessly struggling to find the strength to articulate. "No," she words hoarsely," you're pregnant." She tries to say more but her voice dries up, her lips still move in vain.

"And if you don't eat it you'll die."

"I don't care,"she whispers airily.

I sigh rolling my eyes, "He'd be devastated if you did. " She breathes in sharply, tears soak her dry dusty skin. The ship heaves turning to the left. The intense midday sun shines down the hallway from the open door―

She seems about to protest but then slowly begins to scoop it out of the rind.

―And I can see for the first time as the rays illuminates her face saturation of the milky glaze on her eyes. Caterax. And it will soon consume her sight.

I scoop up some the rice in my fingers and begin to chew. No use worrying her about what cannot be changed.

**Caterax, yes I know it's not spelled correctly, can be cause by lack of nutrition. It can result in blindness if left untreated for long enough. Of course there's no way to treat it in the avatar world. Caterax is a clouding of the membrane of the eyes. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter the next one will come as un-periodically as this one did. **


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